Test of the track: Michelin Pilot Sport Challenge

Perfect your driving technique at speed on the bends and straights of a
serious motor racing circuit with the Michelin Pilot Sport Challenge

Life in the fast lane: take your own car for a high-speed spin around the race track

11:56AM BST 16 Jul 2014

Everyone sits watching Formula One and British Touring Cars secretly wondering how they would fare around the bends of a real race circuit. As a consequence, track days – where you can perfect your race lines and test your high-speed driving skills in a (relatively) safe environment – are a hugely popular part of the British motorsport scene.

Bringing a competitive edge to the track day scene, the Michelin Pilot Sport Experience and Challenge – a track day programme being delivered in the UK in partnership with RMA Track Days – means you can now pit your skills against not only the UK’s finest but Europe’s finest.

In the Pilot Sport Challenge, participants are provided with a free Michelin lap timer app for their smartphone. The idea is you set a lap time and then attempt to reproduce that time. Driving consistently and safely at speed is the test – and the mark of the better driver – with points deducted for each tenth of a second either above or below the target time.

As part of the contest, which includes a round at Silverstone on September 17, there is a prize of Michelin hospitality for two at Le Mans next year.

All entrants can receive advice and tips from a Michelin tyre and track day expert before, during and after the event, and they will be given exclusive access to a series of instructional videos on driving Europe’s best-known circuits, delivered by leading racing drivers.

Participants at circuits in France, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Spain are also taking part in the Michelin Pilot Spot Challenge, and the competition is open to all drivers using a car fitted with tyres from any of Michelin’s Pilot Sport ranges.

There are prizes for the top three drivers from the UK, while the overall European winner will become a Michelin ambassador for a year and be invited to Le Mans with their guest in 2015, courtesy of Michelin.

Malcolm Scovell, commercial director for Michelin in the UK and Republic of Ireland, said: “This is a really exciting development for Michelin. We use motorsport as a laboratory to help us push the boundaries of tyre capabilities, and that allows us to constantly improve our tyres across a wide range of criteria.

“It’s an approach we call Michelin Total Performance, and it has helped us create the Pilot Sport range of tyres. The new Pilot Sport CUP2 is a tyre that maximises performance and driving pleasure on the track, while providing a fully capable road-legal tyre.

“Approved for the Mercedes SLS Black Series and the Nürburgring record-breaking Porsche 918 Spyder, it’s rapidly establishing itself as the choice of tyre for track-day drivers.”

Running alongside the Challenge will be RMA’s Michelin Pilot Sport Experience days, which are taking place at Silverstone on September 17, and at Donington on July 18.Those booking an RMA Michelin Pilot Sport Experience will enjoy a number of benefits, including a trackside tyre service and Michelin hospitality.

RMA Trackdays are open to both members and non-members.

To find out more about the Michelin Pilot Sport Experience and the Michelin Pilot Sport Challenge, visit www.rmatrackdays.com